Help others? It's better to help yourself - Chapter 25

Xu Jing’an finally made her way back to H City and returned to her own home. After settling in and receiving her personal household registration book, she felt relieved.

That night, she noticed that the search function was more detailed.

By the time Xu Jing’an went to work, it was already the 28th. When she went to find Director Huang to report her return from leave, she also handed over the two bottles of wine that Han Yi had instructed her to pass on. Xu Jing’an could sense that Director Huang was now more cordial towards her.

When she returned to the document room, her partner, Wu Sufen, was already there.

The young woman had a round face and was about 1.6 meters tall. She greeted Xu Jing’an warmly.

“Comrade Xu Jing’an, you’re finally here. I’ve been on my own with no one to talk to.”

Xu Jing’an responded politely, “Hello, Sister Wu. I just arrived. I’ll need to trouble you to look after me in the future.”

Wu Sufen shook her head and said, “You’ll get the hang of it after a few days. Our work here is pretty straightforward.”

“You came at just the right time,” she said while removing her gloves.

“Why do you say that?” Xu Jing’an asked curiously, also stepping in to help.

“Our factory is distributing wages today. Don’t you think it’s perfect timing?”

Xu Jing’an smiled happily at the mention of wages. “I guess my timing is indeed perfect.”

“There’s a holiday bonus on May 1st, and they say everyone gets two liang of white sugar,” Wu Sufen whispered in her ear.

“Really? That’s wonderful!” Xu Jing’an was thrilled. It’s quite rare to get sugar these days.

Just as they were chatting quietly, someone knocked on the door to announce:

“Come get your wages—go get your wages quickly—” “There aren’t many people right now, so no need to stand in line—” In no time, everyone had left.

Xu Jing’an joined the queue and received half a month’s salary, which was 18.75 yuan, 14 jin of grain coupons, and some other vouchers.

When she arrived, Director Han had already arranged for her to receive a full month’s salary. The vouchers were local and could no longer be used in H City, so she spent them right away.

The steel plant is a large enterprise and a heavy industry, so the benefits at the workplace have always been good. In addition to the two pairs of white gloves, two towels, and a bar of soap provided each month, this time everyone also received two liang of white sugar, three liang of mung beans, and a set of summer work clothes each year.

Xu Jing’an also specifically went to the logistics department to collect her benefits for joining the plant: two sets of work clothes (one for winter and one for summer), two tea mugs, two lunch boxes, two towels, two pairs of work shoes, four pairs of gloves, and a thermos.

To be honest, Xu Jing’an was quite surprised. She didn’t expect the steel plant’s benefits to be so good. No wonder everyone wants to be a worker.

Since there were so many items, they were all packed into a bag and carried away in one go.

Wu Sufen noticed Xu Jing’an had collected so many gloves and said, “You should save up a bit more, and then you can knit a sweater for yourself.”

The sweater Wu Sufen referred to was made from unraveling the white gloves to use the yarn. Since yarn was hard to buy without a yarn coupon, the factory would distribute a few pairs of white gloves each month.

Crafty female workers would save up the white gloves to unravel and use the yarn to knit sweaters.

Those who didn’t like white yarn would buy dye to color it themselves. For those who couldn’t afford dye, they would collect and dry pomegranate peels.

After boiling and adding the white yarn, they would occasionally stir it. The final color was often very beautiful!

Most workers wore work clothes year-round, saving fabric coupons for their families. Even so, clothes were patched and mended repeatedly over the years, lasting three years new, three years old, and three years of repairs.

Let alone the hard-to-get yarn coupons!

But in workers’ families, almost every household has a few hand-knitted sweaters and pants.

Xu Jing’an immediately said, “Thank you so much, Sister Wu. I’ve always wanted to knit one but didn’t know how. I’ll need to trouble you to teach me.”

Wu Sufen responded, “It’s nothing. It’s a good opportunity for us to keep each other company.”

Xu Jing’an then started sitting next to Wu Sufen, learning how to unravel the gloves. They chatted casually while working.

At noon, Xu Jing’an went with Sister Wu to the cafeteria. The steamed buns were large; four buns cost twenty cents for a pound, and Xu Jing’an got two. A serving of vegetables cost two cents, totaling twelve cents and four liang of grain coupons.

Wu Sufen went around the cafeteria and came back saying, “Jing’an, there will be meat dishes in the cafeteria tomorrow. Let’s come early.”

“You’re so well-informed, Sister Wu!” Xu Jing’an admired her.

Wu Sufen smiled proudly, “The cafeteria chef is my uncle. If you follow me, you’ll get more, not less!”

Xu Jing’an looked relieved. “I knew I’d benefit from knowing you, Sister Wu. I’ve always had only enough to be eight parts full. This time, I’ll definitely be completely satisfied!”

“When I handed over the work to Sister Guo, she kept expressing regret. She said it’s very hard to find a partner like you again!”

“I didn’t expect to have such good luck this time!”

Wu Sufen was even more delighted. “It’s mainly because we get along well. I’m off tomorrow, so don’t forget!”

“There’s no way I’ll forget that!” Xu Jing’an replied firmly. It’s not easy to get meat these days.

As soon as work ended in the evening, Xu Jing’an packed up and headed home.

She leisurely walked for 20 minutes and reached the alley.

“Little Xu is back?” Neighbor Sister Hua greeted her.

“Oh, Sister, you just got back too?” Xu Jing’an responded while walking.

In the current neighborhood, as long as there are no major conflicts, neighbors exchange a few words whenever they see each other.

Within a couple of days of moving in, the neighbors already knew she worked at the steel plant and that she was cousins with Sister Qin. It seemed that there were no secrets among the households.

By the end of the year, Xu Jing’an was settling in well. Her work was easy, and she got along well with her colleagues. She was covering for Guo Caixia, and with Director Huang’s occasional discreet support, no one at the unit gave her a hard time.

Interpersonal relationships are all about managing the right balance and boundaries.